But the problem of dry and fiery conditions this summer isn't just one for the Greeks. The entire European continent has been suffering through blistering heat waves, and fires have roared through regions from the Arctic Circle down to the Mediterranean Sea.

It's all part of a trend with no end in sight. In a report from climate experts to the European Commission, released earlier this year, scientists predict that dry, hot conditions will fuel aggressive wildfires that could spread more easily across the Mediterranean as the region dries up. The damage may not end at the fire lines, and could have a dangerous impact on plant pests and diseases, too.

Take a look at what Europe's been dealing with, and the reasons why:

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The Greeks began a three day period of mourning on Tuesday. At least 80 people are dead as a result of the fires that broke out late Monday near Athens. The death toll is expected to rise.

A man looks at the flames as a wildfire burns in the town of Rafina, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2018.
REUTERS/Costas Baltas

Egyptian Fisherman Tawefik Halil who helped the Greek coast guard pull survivors from the water, said it was a harrowing task.

"There was so much wind," he told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "We could not breathe. I almost fainted at some point from all the smoke, and it was very difficult, my friend, it was so difficult. I have never seen such a difficult thing before."

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Agni Gantona said she spent five hours in the water before a boat came to pick her up.

A wildfire burns next to a church in the town of Rafina, near Athens, Greece, July 23, 2018.
REUTERS/Costas Baltas

"Some were burned, some were near fainting from the smoke and the flames. Groups of us, we were holding each other by the hand and shouting each other's names, because we could not see from the smoke," she told Reuters.

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This is what Mati, the town that Gantona was escaping, looks like now:

A woman reacts, standing amid charred remains of burned-out cars in Mati, a coastal town about 18 miles east of Athens, Tuesday, July 24, 2018.
AP/Thanassis Stavrakis

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But the problem’s not contained to Greece. Over a third of Europe is covered by forest and wooded lands that could become more vulnerable in the coming years as the continent dries up.

People walk past burned-out trees as they leave the town of Mati east of Athens, Tuesday, July 24, 2018.
AP/Thanassis Stavrakis

In this photo taken on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, smoke billows from a fire outside Ljusdal, Sweden.
Maja Suslin/TT via AP

These are the most serious wildfires the country's seen in decades, and the Swedes called Norway and Italy in to help fight. "It's very, very dry in most of Sweden," Jonas Olsson, a hydrologist at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute told the New York Times.

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Dry conditions are becoming a problem in Norway, which has gotten about 45% less rain than usual this year. Electricity prices have almost doubled as a result.

Fire departments and volunteers work to control a forest fire in Pyharanta, Western Finland July 19, 2018.
Roni Lehti/Lehtikuva via Reuters

In nearby Finland, more than 50 people had to be evacuated from homes and summer cottages last week, as fires raged.

Scientists expect that the hardest hit European countries will continue to be those closer to the Mediterranean, especially Spain, Portugal and Turkey. Wildfires in Portugal last year killed more than 100 people.

People watch a wildfire raging near houses in the outskirts of Obidos, Portugal, in the early hours of Monday, Oct. 16 2017.
AP/Armando Franca

Northwestern Spain was also hit hard then.

A wildfire near Gondomar, Pontevedra, in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia, Spain on Monday, Oct. 16, 2017.
AP/Alba Sotelo

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The fires and heat could even make the UK's Brexit tougher.

A firefighter carries a water hose past sheep close to scorched moorland as it burns during a moorland fire at Winter Hill, near Rivington, Britain on July 1, 2018.
REUTERS/Phil Noble

Britain's big shift out of the EU trading bloc, scheduled to take place eight months from now, could cause some supply disruptions at customs and border crossings in the UK.

But this summer's dry, hot conditions mean some farmers simply aren't prepared for any extra demand this year.

"We're already seeing farmers struggling with crops, with feed," Ian Wright, director general of the Food and Drink Federation in the UK told the BBC. "There are vegetable shortages because there hasn't been enough rain."

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Scientists expect that in the coming years, more hot conditions in Europe will mean deeper layers of wood, leaves and soil in the forests will dry out, becoming captive, brittle tinder just waiting to be ignited. Forests that are stressed by drought can also be more susceptible to attack by insects, who'll leave more dead wood around to catch fire.

Acropolis hill, as a forest fire burns west of Athens on Monday, July 23, 2018.
AP/Theodora Tongas